


chapter 2: the bounty

by rogueonestan



Series: When Our Paths Cross [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Business, Developing Friendships, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friendship/Love, Male-Female Friendship, Romantic Friendship, soon, theyre getting there, theyre partners but theyre beginning to let their guards down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29394537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rogueonestan/pseuds/rogueonestan
Summary: after receiving your bounty from the imperials, your journey with the Mandalorian begins with you arrive on Arvala-7.
Relationships: Din Djarin & IG-11, Din Djarin & Kuiil, Din Djarin/Original Female Character(s), Din Djarin/Reader, Din Djarin/You, The Mandalorian & Original Character
Series: When Our Paths Cross [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138634
Kudos: 5





	chapter 2: the bounty

The short amount of time you’ve spent on Arvala-7 has been nothing short of adventure. Within minutes of landing on the planet, you and Mando were attacked by two blurrgs that came out of nowhere, luckily saved by a local who offered his guidance of finding your next quarry in exchange for the two blurrgs that just attacked you.

The local, an Ugnaught, invited both of you into his home where he helped devise a plan of how to travel to the location of your next target: via a blurrg mount with him acting as a personal guide. But first, you and Mando would need to learn how to properly ride a blurrg. 

Learning how to ride a blurrg is much more difficult than you initially thought. 

With only enough room for one of the blurrgs to be in the containment area at a time, Mando offered to go first as you observe on the sidelines with the Ugnaught by your side. Attempt after attempt, Mando continues the same method that he’s been using for the past twenty minutes or so: slowly approaching the creature and once it seems calm enough, he jumps on the creature’s back, only to be ultimately thrown off almost immediately. With the great amount of force the creature uses to throw him off, it’s amazing that Mando can even last a few seconds on the animal’s back.

After being thrown off for the umpteenth time, Mando lets out a frustrated groan, only to try again. A few chuckles manage to escape your lips when your partner is unsuccessful in being able to mount the creature properly. In this attempt, however, Mando falls particularly hard on the ground that provides no cushion. You can’t help but cringe as he lets out another grunt of pain. 

His body lays still on the ground, not moving a single muscle, as his chest raises up then floats down at an alarming pace. 

“Need some help?”

Mando suddenly hears as a dark shadow now covers his view. As he cranes his neck slightly to the right, you’re all he can see in his view of sight. Your hair moving slightly thanks to the wind. A slight smirk on your face when he lets out a sigh of defeat.

Before he’s able to support himself off of the ground, one of your hands reaches out in his direction. With a strong grip on each other’s forearm, you’re able to help your partner up from the ground. 

“Think you can do better?” He quips. 

“Watch and learn, partner.” You say as you lightly slap his shoulder, beginning to make your approach to the creature. When you get closer to the creature, the animal lets out a loud growl. Rather than taking a similar approach as your partner of immediately getting on the creature, you decide to take a different one. The blurrg immediately lets out several growls at you because of the agitation it feels because of the experience it just had with your partner. Mando’s method was to be the one in control right from the start and that got him nowhere. You need to allow the creature to feel like it has control over the situation with you being at its mercy. 

When the creature lets out the loudest growl you’ve heard today, you stop in your tracks and 

reach out in the direction of the creature, showing the creature that you mean no harm.

Based on experiences you’ve had in the past, you know that you need to gain the animal’s trust before you can even attempt to mount it, so that’s exactly what you’re going to do. Rather than agitating it multiple times as your partner did, you’re going to let the young foal come to you. Staying in your place, the young creature slowly begins to make its way towards you as you do the same. With your hand still in front of you, you take half steps towards the creature, subtle enough to not frighten them. 

With your full attention on the creature that’s a few feet away in front of you, you don’t notice the look that’s on Mando’s face. 

Not like you would be able to if you were looking at him because he has the safety of hiding underneath his helmet. You wouldn’t be able to see the way his eyes are analyzing every single movement you make, seeing how you visibly react to the creature’s actions. You wouldn’t be able to see the way his eyes soften by seeing how gentle you’re being with a creature you met a few minutes ago. It’s one of the things about you that’s intrigued him since you became partners- not just for your skills as a bounty hunter, but  _ you.  _

Seeing the way you’re interacting with the animal shows the side of you that you haven’t revealed to anyone in the galaxy in a long time- only Mando has been present to see, one that he’s honored to be able to see. To be able to see a vulnerable side of you is a sign that shows how he has been able to gain your trust over the past few months. 

When these thoughts stop, Mando notices how close you have been able to get to the animal. 

The blurrg is close enough that you’re able to gently place your hand on the side of its face. The creature lets out a sigh of content, clearly happy with how patient you’re being. The creature’s eyes shut close as you gently pet the coarse skin. With your hand never leaving its skin, you slowly walk towards the blurrg’s middle. The soft caresses that you give seem to be giving puts the creature’s mind at ease as you quickly jump onto the back.

The blurrg immediately starts to panic, thrashing you around and trying to get you off just like it had done with Mando, but you’re determined for the creature’s trust to come through. You tightly grip the leash that’s around the animal’s neck as you lean over to the side to caress the same area of skin that you had when you first approached the blurrg. The young foal lets out another sigh of content as its nerves begin to go away. 

Your grip on the leash loosens as your hand continues to rub against the rough hide. Your face is so close to its side that if you spoke, only the creature could hear you. 

The words ‘ _ it’ll be alright. You’re doing so well. You can do it.’  _ Sentiments of encouragement continue to leave your lips. With the calm tone of your voice and your actions reflecting your words, the creature only continues to mellow out as you continue stroking its skin. 

It’s not long after that you have gained the creature’s full trust. The animal no longer tries to thrash you off, but rather has accepted the new passenger. The animal slightly bounces beneath you as it takes the first few steps since you mounted it. With the light grip you have on the leash that’s around its neck, you softly encourage the animal to take a few laps around the area. A smile is on your face as the wind blows through your head, the sunshine beaming on your face. The direct sunlight is blinding, but it’s so unlike anything you’ve experienced lately. As of late, you haven’t had anything out of the ordinary happen to you. You and Mando follow a strict routine: get a job for a new bounty, travel to a distinct planet to track them down, return back to Nevarro, then do the cycle all over again. But this,  _ this,  _ is something completely different. You’re able to see a part of the galaxy that you haven’t seen before. You’re able to see that there’s still good in the galaxy. The darkness on the  _ Crest  _ isn’t a constant, you can enjoy the brightness from the galaxy if you could just enjoy moments like these more often. 

You can’t think about this right now. Shaking your head, you try to dismiss the thoughts that won’t stop coming and try to focus on the moment. The warmth of the sunshine hitting your skin. The slight burning sensation of the sunlight hitting your eyes. The breeze that hits your skin and moves your hair off of your back. 

When you finally decide to jump off of the creature’s back after a few minutes of riding, you quickly say your goodbyes to the creature, all the while you’re gently stroking the hide, a habit that has put the animal at ease. 

As you make your way towards the two men, you see the Ugnaught has a smile of satisfaction on his face as Mando has one of confusion, or at least you assume, based on the tilt of his helmet with his hands on his hips.

“What?” 

“How did- when did you learn how to do that?” 

You shrug your shoulders at him, “I’ve always known how- I learned when I was very young.”

“Well, you’re a natural.” The Ugnaught comments.

“Thank you.” You say with a smile on your face.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a young foal act so calm. You have a gift.”

Turning around to look at the young animal, only to find that they are currently roaming around the pen, still content from the short period of time you spent bonding with them. The sight of the creature’s happiness reflects off on you as your spirits continue to lift with the experience you just had with them. 

In all of the months that you’ve spent bounty hunting with the Mandalorian, you can’t remember you’ve been this happy on the job. That’s not to say that you don’t enjoy spending time with Mando, you do, but carefree moments like these are a rare occurrence.

After you glance back at the Ugnaught and Mando, you see that he wants to attempt again. His steps are hesitant. He only gets a few steps towards the creature, but he stops dead in his tracks and looks back at you. 

“Bond with the creature. They’ll eventually make their way to you. Just be  _ patient.”  _ You emphasize the final word because you know how easily frustrated he gets. Even with being the talented bounty hunter that he is, Mando’s still prone to anger when he’s not able to complete his task straight away. 

Thanks to your advice, he’s able to successfully mount and ride the blurrg once he’s actually patient. The creature panics in the same way as it did with you when he jumps on its back, but with extra care, Mando is able to successfully ride the creature as it runs around the pen when it gets used to the extra weight. 

With the two being able to ride the creature, the Ugnaught is now willing to guide the two of you to the location of your next target.

As you ride through the hills and broken ground, you notice Arvala-7 looks pretty much the same no matter where you go. Besides the Ugnaught’s settlement, the entire planet almost looks exactly the same. Dust is in the air as you continue riding at a fast rate. Every once in a while, there'll be a large gap where the blurrg will jump the distance, the sensation of landing always jolts you. If you didn’t have such a vice tight grip on its leash, you’re sure you would’ve been thrown off by now. 

Arvala-7 doesn’t have many sights to offer, but you’ve always been able to find beauty in the smallest of things, like the few insects that you’ve managed to take a glimpse at as you travel. 

The outline of a nearby settlement is faint, but after a minute or two, you’re able to see it more clearly. It’s not much, only a few buildings that make a circle. The settlement seems to be getting bigger and bigger the closer you get. Eventually, the fast pace of your blurrg mount 

come to a complete halt when you get to the nearby cliff that oversees the settlement. 

The Ugnaught begins to explain why he’s decided to help you and Mando find your next target, “since they’ve arrived,” he begins as he gestures to the plethora of men that reside in the settlement, “this territory has been an endless stream of mercenaries seeking reward and bringing destruction. Those who live here, come to seek peace.” 

Upon hearing his words, the bad feeling you felt back on Nevarro comes back. There’s something  _ off  _ about this place. It’s unknown why this feeling suddenly came back, but you’ll discover the reason why in a matter of minutes. 

Shortly after the Ugnaught leaves for you and Mando to begin your hunt. 

Following closely behind him, the two of you walk closer to the edge of the nearby cliff to scout the area, only for your partner to sigh deeply after he finds dozens of mercenaries are guarding the area. 

“How bad is it?” You ask as you turn your attention away from the settlement and look at your partner.

“A dozen, at least, maybe more.” He begins, , “there’ll be more inside-  _ oh, no.” _

“What?” 

“Bounty droid.” You’re about to voice whether or not you should begin making your way towards the settlement but the sound of distant blaster fire gives you your answer. 

“Great,” you mutter underneath your breath as Mando lets out a modulated sigh, “that makes our job much harder.”

“ _ Droids.”  _ Mando says as he gets up from his scouting position and motions for you to follow him in the direction where the shooting just happened. As he leads the two of you, you can hear in the distance the bounty droid repeating its automatic request of the bounty. 

Based on his increasing pace, you can just  _ feel  _ the frustration radiating off of him. Nothing good can come from this. You’ve only seen Mando lash out in anger a handful of times and it never ends well.

When he marches towards the droid, he barks out, “ _ IG  _ unit, stand down!” Where he is ultimately shot on sight and lands harshly against some nearby barrels, surely to be bruised on his backside by the time you leave this planet. 

You can’t help but let out a few chuckles, you don’t mean to laugh  _ at  _ him but the droid’s actions surprised you.

“ _ I’m in the Guild!”  _ Mando shouts as he shows the droid the same chit card that Greef Karga gave him in the cantina back on Nevarro. 

Thanks to your help, you’re able to get your partner from the floor for the second time today with the tight grasp you have on each other’s wrists. Instead of letting go of your arm when he gets up, he drags you to a nearby pillar that acts as protection, in case any mercenaries decide to ambush you just like they had with the droid.

The pillar that you’re hiding behind has such a limited amount of space that you and Mando are forced to stand directly next to each other. 

The tight grip he has on you is still there as he tries to persuade the droid to team up with the two of you. 

Before the droid is able to make a decision, 

mercenaries on rooftops pop out of nowhere and begin shooting at the droid. Mando immediately releases the grip he has on you and shoots at the people that he can see with his limited range of view. 

With the three of you, you make it short work of the mercenaries that make their way out of their shelter. You try to shoot at as many as you can, but with the combination of the heavy firepower and the limited space you have behind the pillar, it’s difficult to shoot down your enemies. 

Once it seems that the blaster fire is beginning to dial down, more mercenaries replace the ones that you just shot down. If you stay in the same place, it’ll do you no good because you will be soon cornered. You need to find some sort of way to escape. 

As you trail behind your partner to move away from the firepower, you constantly look in every direction possible to see where any of the mercenaries are at. Even on the move, it’s still difficult to take down a good amount of the men who are ambushing you. You’re able to shoot down men who lurk on the rooftops, but there are 

too many men on the ground level, who shoot at you then take cover. 

When it seems like you’ve taken out a good amount of enemies, two more men replace the one you were able to take out. 

When you’re not glancing over your shoulder, you check up on your partner, but you should know that he can handle his own. Every time you check up on him, he’ll have his blaster pointed at a target or he’s physically taking someone down.

When you glance over in his direction this time, you see that he throws a Niko down to the ground with ease, thanks to his strength. Then he quickly takes shelter behind a nearby speeder bike that has cargo boxes stacked on top of it.

Before you’re able to join Mando by his side, a tight grip on your upper arm prohibits you from doing so. Turning around, you find one of the Nikos has been able to sneak up behind you and separate you from your partner. Screaming out in pain when his grip tightens, you use your free hand to try to fight him off. 

When you throw multiple punches his way, on his arms, his chest, his nose, the grip on you only gets tighter and tighter. The more you aggravate him, the more determined he is to not let go of his grasp on you. 

With all of the blaster fire that’s coming your way, 

it’s so hard to avoid it. Almost like it’s a miracle that you haven’t gotten shot at yet.  _ Why aren’t they shooting at you?  _ As you glance at the other men, you notice that they aren’t shooting at you but at your partner and the droid. 

You don’t have time for this. You need to find shelter and  _ quick.  _

Kicking the Niko in his shin, he yelps out in surprise as he releases his grip on you. He’s about to aim his blaster at you, but before he’s able to do, you kick him in the chest with extreme effort as he lands harshly on the ground. His blaster is released from his grip. His focus goes from you desperately grabbing his weapons. His hand is a few inches away from his weapon when you aim your blaster at him and shoot him, making your way to rejoin your partner by his side.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You say as you rub the area where he gripped you so tightly. You’ll probably have bruises there in the morning.

Nodding at you, Mando takes out the tracking fob from his pocket and finds that the door behind you is the same one that you need to get into for your bounty. Looking over at you, you offer to cover his back as he heads in the direction where the beeping is directing him. 

Once he leaves your side, it seems as if the blaster fire has doubled as you struggle to cover your partner’s back. If you thought the blaster fire was bad before, it’s nothing like what you’re experiencing right now. You’re able to take out many men, but as before, it seems as once you’ve taken down one, two more pop up. 

“There’s too many!” You holler at your partner.

Suddenly, the blaster fire stops. As you slowly descend from your covered position, you find that all of the mercenaries are beginning to take cover, as you do behind a pillar as you reunite with your partner and the bounty droid.

“What’s going on out there?” Mando asks you.

“I’m not sure,” you say as you quickly look back at where the shooting suddenly stopped, “but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” You say as you try to catch your breath, the fighting of the endless stream of mercenaries finally catching up to you. Gripping your wrist lightly, Mando encourages you to stay by his side and to be protected by the pillar you’re currently using. 

When the two of you try to devise a plan, you’re interrupted by the bounty droid stating how he cannot be captured and he must begin his self-destruct sequencing as a thermal detonator appears from his chest area. The droid’s stubbornness only aggravates your partner even more, that much you can tell as his grip on you slightly increases, as he scolds the droid multiple times to not self-destruct. 

“Cover me,” he says to you as he immediately makes a run for the console as his grip on you disappears, in which heavy blaster fire is immediately met. Even with your years of experience of fighting, this is definitely one of the more difficult battles you’ve endured. You, along with the droid, try your best to cover Mando but it’s almost all for nothing. Whenever one man falls, another two take his place. 

The heavy blaster fire continues to rain on you three, where Mando eventually seeks cover by the droid’s side. You continue to take down as many men as you can, but you’re outnumbered. 

Once again, the various blaster bolts suddenly stop whizzing by you, and before you’re able to check out why, heavy blaster fire meets your ears again. You quickly peak your head around the corner and find that they primed and are using a blaster rifle to shoot at the pillar on your left.

Thanks to Mando, the remaining mercenaries are able to be taken out permanently once he takes control of the weapon. 

You feel like you can finally catch your breath once the only sound you can hear is the slight wind. The vice-tight grip you have on your blaster loosens once you see the sea of dead bodies on the floor. As you walk towards your partner and the droid that is now on the floor, you all can now finally devise up a plan to enter the building that you need to get into.

Mando and the droid begin suggesting plans to each other, where one offers a plan the other declines. As you look behind you, a plan immediately pops up in your head, “uh, guys?” You chime in, gesturing to the weapon that Mando had used to end this battle.

The door eventually falls with a big  _ thud  _ after Mando used the heavy rifle to take it down. The coast seems to be clear. A mercenary in the doorway attempts to sneak attack you, only to be another fallen victim of Mando’s blaster. 

As you make your way through the room, a weird feeling overwhelms you, similar to the one you felt after leaving the Imperial safehouse on Navarro. It’s not a foreign one, no, you’ve experienced this heavy feeling all over your body before but it’s been so long that it takes you by surprise. You can’t exactly put your finger on it, but it feels like something is guiding you. An oval object on the other side of the room catches your attention as you begin to approach it. The movements of Mando and the droid are the last things on your mind. All you can focus on is what’s inside the oval object. 

The beeping of Mando’s tracking fob only gets more intense when he joins you at your side. As you stand there, your nerves are the most intense you’ve felt since you landed on this planet. Your heartbeat seems to be stuck in your throat when all of your limbs are stuck, unable to move. Your feet might as well be cemented into the ground.

It’s hard to describe what’s going on in your mind, but you can just  _ feel  _ like something’s going to happen. 

Your partner eventually puts his blaster back into its holster, as you do the same, when he presses one of the buttons in the front of the pram to expose the target, “ _ Wait-  _ they said fifty years old.” 

Once you make eye contact with the bounty, it seems as if the world around you stops. You black out the conversation that Mando and the droid seem to be having. 

Your heart rate continues its brutal assault. Your breathing halts. The breath that was stuck in your throat is released when you realize why the feeling you felt earlier was so familiar. You’ve seen an individual of this species before- before your whole life changed forever. 

You don’t hear the blaster fire that goes through the droid’s head. You don’t notice Mando’s helmet tilting out of curiosity. All you can focus on are the giant, brown eyes of an infant as he reaches out to touch the gloved finger that Mando is offering. 

You’re suddenly brought out of your thoughts as you could feel a pair of eyes on you. Looking to your right, you see Mando’s visor is staring at you. Before he’s able to say anything, you break the silence without thinking.

“I used to know someone of his kind before- before the war, before everything changed for the worst. It's been a long time, but when I was younger, they were someone who helped guide me on my path.” You leave your partner’s side before he’s able to ask you anything else and you contemplate whether or not you should tell him the full truth. 

**Author's Note:**

> this took me much longer to edit than i anticipated but hope yall enjoy


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